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Whonix ™ for VirtualBox with CLI

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< VirtualBox Testers Only Version




Ambox warning pn.svg.png Warning: This is the testers-only Whonix ™ version for VirtualBox with CLI. For the stable version, see: VirtualBox with CLI.

Ambox warning pn.svg.png Whonix ™ with CLI is a version suited for advanced users -- those who want Whonix ™ without a GUI. Everyone else should install the user-friendly Whonix ™ VirtualBox with XFCE.


1. Download Whonix ™ Whonix old logo.png CLI for Windows Windows logo - 2012.svg.png, MacOS Rsz osx.png and Linux Tux.png FREE


Ambox warning pn.svg.png By downloading, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to our Terms of Service and License Agreement.

Version: 15.0.1.7.2

Type Connection Link Download Security
without Verification 		Download Security
with Verification
Download.png Https long.png

Download (TLS)

Medium High [1]
Download.png Iconfinder tor 386502.png

Download (Onion)

Medium High
Button sig.png Https long.png - -
Button sig.png Iconfinder tor 386502.png - -
Crypto key.png Verify images using this Signing Key


Verify the Whonix ™ Images Whonix ™ virtual machine images are cryptographically signed by Whonix developer Patrick Schleizer using OpenPGP. [2]

notice Digital signatures can increase security but this requires knowledge. Learn more about digital software signature verification.

If you know how to use an OpenPGP key, download the Whonix ™ Signing Key and the Whonix ™ signatures straight away.

Otherwise, use the following instructions:

Download Whonix ™ CLI

2. Install VirtualBox Virtualbox logo.png

Recommended VirtualBox version: 6.1.18

  • Linux Tux.png: please press expand on the right side.

info Recommendations for Linux users:

Hosts using a non-Debian OS: Tux.png

Install VirtualBox as per the normal mechanism for your Linux distribution. Whonix ™ has has been tested with, expects VirtualBox version 6.1.18

For example VirtualBox version 5.2.18 has been reported to not be compatible.

Ubuntu hosts: Logo-ubuntusvg.png

Ubuntu bionic (18.04LTS) APT repository ships only VirtualBox version 5.2.18 and Whonix ™ will probably not work.

You might want to release-upgrade to Ubuntu focal (20.04LTS) which provides VirtualBox version 6.1.6.

Debian hosts: Debian.png

These instructions are for Debian buster, which is recommended. Other Debian releases might work, but this is untested. In that case, replace buster with the actual codename your release.

Note: this applies to Whonix ™ 15. Later Whonix ™ versions may use a codename different to buster.

To acquire the Recommended VirtualBox version tested with Whonix ™, package virtualbox-6.1 should be installed from Whonix ™ repository. [3]

1. On the host.

Open a terminal.

2. Add Whonix ™ repository.

1. Download the Signing Key. 

wget https://www.whonix.org/patrick.asc

2. Optional: Check the Signing Key for better security.

3. Add Whonix's signing key. 

sudo apt-key --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/whonix.gpg add ~/patrick.asc

4. Add Whonix's APT repository. 

echo "deb https://deb.whonix.org buster main contrib non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/whonix.list

3. Update the package lists. 

sudo apt-get update

4. Install VirtualBox and Linux kernel headers. 

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-6.1 linux-headers-$(dpkg --print-architecture)

5. Add your current user to group vboxusers. [4] 

sudo adduser $(whoami) vboxusers

The procedure is now complete.

3. Import Whonix ™ Whonix old logo.png into VirtualBox Virtualbox logo.png

For Whonix ™ VirtualBox import instructions, please press on expand on the right.

Start VirtualBox
OpenVirtualbox1.png

Click on File then choose Import Appliance...
Select Import2.png

Navigate and select Whonix ™ image and press next
Select whonix ova image3.png

Do NOT change anything! Just click on Import
Click import4.png

Then press Agree
Agree5.png

Wait until Whonix ™ .ova has been imported
Wait6.png

Now start both Whonix-Gateway ™ and Whonix-Workstation ™
Start both of them7.png

Miscellaneous

There are also Video Tutorials.

If you still need help, please check the Support page.

For command line import instructions, see footnote. [5]

4. Start Whonix ™

Starting Whonix ™ is simple.

Start VirtualBox → Double-click the Whonix-Gateway ™ and Whonix-Workstation ™.

First time user?

Whonix / Kicksecure default admin password is: changeme default username: user
default password: changeme

Whonix first time users warning Warning:

  • If you do not know what metadata or a man-in-the-middle attack is.
  • If you think nobody can eavesdrop on your communications because you are using Tor.
  • If you have no idea how Whonix works.

Then read the Design and Goals, Whonix ™ and Tor Limitations and Tips on Remaining Anonymous pages to decide whether Whonix is the right tool for you based on its limitations.

Footnotes and Experimental Spectre / Meltdown Defenses

Please press on expand on the right.

VirtualBox Stable Version | VirtualBox Testers Only Version

Testers only! For more information please press on expand on the right.

These experimental [archive] Spectre/Meltdown defenses are related to issues outlined in Firmware Security and Updates. Due to the huge performance penalty and unclear security benefits of applying these changes, it may not be worth the effort. The reason is VirtualBox is still likely vulnerable, even after:

  1. A host microcode upgrade.
  2. A host kernel upgrade.
  3. A VM kernel upgrade.
  4. A "not vulnerable" result from spectre-meltdown-checker run on the host.
  5. Installation of the latest VirtualBox version. [6]
  6. All Spectre/Meltdown-related VirtualBox settings are tuned for better security as documented below.

To learn more, see: VirtualBox 5.2.18 vulnerable to spectre/meltdown despite microcode being installed [archive] and the associated VirtualBox forum discussion [archive]. [7] Users must patiently wait for VirtualBox developers to fix this bug.

On the host. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --ibpb-on-vm-entry o VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --ibpb-on-vm-exit on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --l1d-flush-on-vm-entry on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --l1d-flush-on-sched on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --spec-ctrl on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --nestedpaging off VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --mds-clear-on-vm-entry on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --mds-clear-on-sched on

VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --ibpb-on-vm-entry on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --ibpb-on-vm-exit on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --l1d-flush-on-vm-entry on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --l1d-flush-on-sched on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --spec-ctrl on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --nestedpaging off VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --mds-clear-on-vm-entry on VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --mds-clear-on-sched on

Info These steps must be repeated for every Whonix or non-Whonix VirtualBox VM, including multiple and custom VMs.

The above instructions only apply to the default VM names Whonix-Gateway ™ and Whonix-Workstation ™. Therefore, if Multiple Whonix-Workstation ™ and/or Multiple Whonix-Gateway ™ are configured, then repeat these instructions using the relevant name/s.


Footnotes[edit]

  1. ↑ It does not matter if the bulk download is done over an insecure channel if software signature verification is used at the end.
  2. ↑ OpenPGP is a standard for data encryption that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication through the use of keys owned by its users.
  3. ↑ This is non-ideal but required since VirtualBox in unavailable in official Debian buster repository and difficult to install due to VirtualBox Installation Challenges. Alternatively you could install VirtualBox from the Oracle (virtualbox.org) Repository, but this comes with different risks. VirtualBox might be updated by VirtualBox developers before being tested with Whonix ™ which could then lead to issues. (Described in footnote here.)
  4. ↑ Optional: See: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02.html#install-linux-vboxusers [archive] Also spams ~/.config/VirtualBox/VBoxSVC.log log if not done.
  5. ↑ On the Linux platform.
    1. Read License Agreement: 
    vboxmanage import Whonix-XFCE-15.0.1.5.4.ova --vsys 0 --eula show --vsys 1 --eula show

    2. Import Whonix-Gateway ™ and Whonix-Workstation ™. 

    vboxmanage import Whonix-XFCE-15.0.1.5.4.ova --vsys 0 --eula accept --vsys 1 --eula accept

  6. ↑ VirtualBox version 5.2.18 or above is required since only that version comes with Spectre/Meltdown defenses. See https://forums.whonix.org/t/whonix-vulerable-due-to-missing-processor-microcode-packages/5739/22 [archive].
  7. ↑ Also see the following Whonix forum discussion: Whonix vulerable due to missing processor microcode packages? spectre / meltdown / retpoline / L1 Terminal Fault (L1TF) [archive]
  8. ↑

    --ibpb-on-vm-[enter|exit] on|off: Enables flushing of the indirect branch prediction buffers on every VM enter or exit respectively. This could be enabled by users overly worried about possible spectre attacks by the VM. Please note that these options may have sever impact on performance.
    https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html [archive]

    There is a mistake in the VirtualBox manual stating enter which does not work. It is actually entry.

  9. ↑ https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html [archive]

    --l1d-flush-on-vm-enter on|off: Enables flushing of the level 1 data cache on VM enter. See Section 13.4.1, “CVE-2018-3646”.

  10. ↑

    --l1d-flush-on-sched on|off: Enables flushing of the level 1 data cache on scheduling EMT for guest execution. See Section 13.4.1, “CVE-2018-3646 [archive]”.
    https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html [archive]

  11. ↑ https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch13.html#sec-rec-cve-2018-3646 [archive]

    For users not concerned by this security issue, the default mitigation can be disabled using

    VBoxManage modifyvm name --l1d-flush-on-sched off

    Since we want to enable the security feature we set --l1d-flush-on-sched on.

  12. ↑

    --spec-ctrl on|off: This setting enables/disables exposing speculation control interfaces to the guest, provided they are available on the host. Depending on the host CPU and workload, enabling speculation control may significantly reduce performance.
    https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html [archive]

  13. ↑ According to this VirtualBox ticket [archive] --spec-ctrl should be set to on.
  14. ↑

    --nestedpaging on|off: If hardware virtualization is enabled, this additional setting enables or disables the use of the nested paging feature in the processor of your host system; see Section 10.7, “Nested paging and VPIDs” and Section 13.4.1, “CVE-2018-3646”.

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Copyright (C) 2012 - 2021 ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP. Whonix ™ is a trademark. Whonix ™ is a licensee [archive] of the Open Invention Network [archive]. Unless otherwise noted, the content of this page is copyrighted and licensed under the same Freedom Software license as Whonix ™ itself. (Why?)

The personal opinions of moderators or contributors to the Whonix ™ project do not represent the project as a whole.

Whonix ™ is a derivative of and not affiliated with Debian [archive]. Debian is a registered trademark [archive] owned by Software in the Public Interest, Inc [archive].

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